Phila. man died prior to bridge crash blamed on DUI

A 68-year-old Philadelphia man was not killed during a crash Saturday evening on the Ben Franklin Bridge, but died before the accident, officials said.

As a result, a 19-year-old Delaware County man will face charges related to driving under the influence, but not vehicular homicide charges, according to Tim Ireland, spokesman for the Delaware River Port Authority.

A heart attack caused the death of Pervis Herder of the 2700 block of North Fairhill Street, in the city's Fairhill section, the medical examiner's office ruled, Ireland said.

Herder was a rear-seat passenger in a westbound Ford van, and about 6:30 p.m., mechanical problems caused it to stop or nearly stop on the New Jersey side of the bridge.

At the time, none of the other five people in the van realized Herder had died. He simply seemed to be sleeping.

The van was then rear-ended by a Mazda driven by Kevin Diamond Jr. of the 200 block of Evergreen Avenue in Folsom, Ireland said.

Four people in the van were transported to Camden's Cooper University Hospital. A fifth was taken to Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Ireland did not know their conditions as of Monday afternoon.

Diamond's blood-alcohol level was found to be .08, the threshold for DUI in New Jersey, Ireland said.

"I would also point out that he was underage, and that matters," he added.

Several westbound lanes were closed for the investigation and cleanup, and the effort was hampered because of additional drunk-driving arrests.

Both vehicles had Pennsylvania tags.